Monday, November 27, 2006

“There are a lot of dumb bastards in the world. Lou is one of the smart ones.”

. . . is one of many entertaining quotes in a lengthy Ken Auletta profile of CNN windbag Lou Dobbs in The New Yorker.

For those of you old enough to remember the Mary Tyler Moore show: Dobbs has always struck me as having something of the Ted Baxter about him, i.e. he thinks success is 50% looks, 50% charm, and 50% bravado.

One of CNN’s funniest programming decisions occurred when they revamped their evening lineup and scheduled Wolf Blitzer’s new show, "The Situation Room," in two parts on either side of Dobbs’ 6:00 p.m. slot (4-6 p.m. and 7-8 p.m.). I guess Lou would not be moved.

Hey, nothing says a network is behind a show like chopping it up from its inception. The move reminded me of David Letterman’s first show on NBC, a morning affair in the summer of 1980. The show was 90 minutes long, but affiliates had the option of airing 30, 60, 90 or – as Dave often joked – none of the show.